The New South Wales Department of Education, a department of the Government of New South Wales, is responsible for the delivery and co-ordination of

early childhood Early childhood is a stage in human development following infancy and preceding middle childhood. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterward. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood. ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, secondary school,

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...

, adult, migrant and higher education in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The department was previous known as the Department of Education and Training (DET) between December 1997 and April 2011, and the Department of Education and Communities (DEC) between April 2011 and July 2015. The department's powers are principally drawn from the .

Structure

The head of the department is its

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

, presently Georgina Harrisson. The secretary reports to the

Minister for Education and Early Learning The New South Wales Minister for Education and Early Learning is a Minister of the Crown, minister in the New South Wales Government and has responsibilities that includes all schools and institutes of higher education in New South Wales, Austra ...

, currently The Hon.

Sarah Mitchell Sarah Ann Mitchell (née Johnston; born 10 May 1982), an Australian politician, is the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning in the second Berejiklian ministry since April 2019, and in the Perrottet ministry. She has been a Nati ...

; supported by the Minister for Skills and Training, currently The Hon. Alister Henskens . Ultimately the ministers are responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales. With a budget of more than A$8 billion, and over 2,240 schools with a total enrolment of almost one million students, the department represents roughly one-quarter of the State's total budget each year.

Departmental leadership

History

In 1957 a committee was appointed to survey secondary education in New South Wales to survey and report on the provision of full-time education for adolescents. The resulting report was known as the Wyndham Report. in 1974, the Australian Capital Territory Schools Authority took over responsibility for nearly 60 government schools that were previously under the control of New South Wales.

Agencies administered

List of government schools in New South Wales {{Use Australian English, date=June 2020 The New South Wales Department of Education is a department of the Government of New South Wales. In addition to other responsibilities, it operates primary and secondary school A secondary school des ...

** List of Government schools in New South Wales: A–F ** List of Government schools in New South Wales: G–P ** List of Government schools in New South Wales: Q–Z * TAFE NSW

References

External links